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Fangland
Fangland is a 2007 novel written by John Marks, a former producer for 60 Minutes. It is a reimagined story for the Dracula tale by Bram Stoker, setting in a post 9/11 New York. Like its predecessor, Fangland is written in parts as an epistolary novel through e-mails, diary entries and letters. It received a World Fantasy Award nomination. Plot summary The story begins with Evangeline Harker, an associate producer of the television news program, The Hour, and the daughter of a rich Texan magnate, is engaged to her boyfriend Robert, looking forward to their honeymoon. When she is given an assignment to investigate the Eastern European crime lord Ion Torgu in Romania, she worries about it. However, she accepts anyway. Arriving at Romania, she meets a young companion named Clementine Spence. Together, they travel to a disclosed location. There, Evangeline disappears after meeting with Torgu. She is then infected with vamparism; she then kills Clemmie by slicing her throat and drinking her blood; she disappears. The staff at The Hour is filled with guilt and dismay. Mysterious tapes appear, infecting the entire audio system with a weird noise. Two months later, Evangeline is found. Her memories are scrubbed, but slowly return. However, their terror only drives her insane. She is forced to attack anyone. Robert, meanwhile gets attacked by Torgu. However, Evangeline defeats Torgu in the final battle. Characters * Evangeline Harker: daughter of a Texan oil magnate, who works as an associate producer on the acclaimed The Hour and who is sent to Transylvania to scout a possible story on Ion Torgu. Her sanity slowly degrades as she's held hostage by Torgu and finally manages to escape from his estate. She's saved by Clemmie Spence, whom she travels with for some time and ends up becoming her lesbian lover and eventually murdering her. Meanwhile, she discovers various symbols appearing all over her body as she's slowly becoming a vampire. She eventually is found by the officials in a Transylvanian monastery, with her memories partially suppressed. She returns to New York only to face Torgu again. The character is based on both Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray . * Ion Torgu: The antagonist of the novel. While apparently a vampire, Torgu differs greatly from the classical vampire image, mainly not having fangs and being unafraid of sunlight. His main gift is communicating with the dead through drinking human blood, which he apparently wishes to share with the whole world. He speaks enigmatically of his past and seems to be petrified by human sexuality. Based on Count Dracula. * Clementine "Clemmie" Spence: A young, blond , fellow American missionary with a troubled past. She rescues Evangeline after her first encounter with Torgu, and reveals to be an agent for an apparently witch-hunting organization called World Ministries Central, which is investigating Yon Torgu. Clemmie's partially based on both Van Helsing and Lucy Westenra. * Austen Trotta: One of the head businessmen at The Hour serving as long-time correspondent. He is at first oblivious to what is going on around him in the newsroom, although he is greatly concerned about the safety of his associate producer. Also based on Van Helsing. * Julia Barnes: A competent and clear-headed woman who is an ex-rebel turned editor at The Hour. She teams up with Trotta and Sally Benchborn against Torgu's overtaking of the offices. * Stimson Beevers: A young, geeky, production associate who's secretly in love with Evangeline. After her disappearance he tries desperately to reach her through the e-mail, only to be answered by Torgu impersonating her. Slowly driven crazy by Torgu's influence, he ends up trying to murder Evangeline's fiance. Based on Renfield. * Sally Benchborn: Producer and Civil War re-enactor. * Ian: Evangeline's coworker and friend who dies shortly after her departure and communicates with her as a ghost later in the novel. * Robert: Evangeline Harker's fiance. Attacked and nearly killed by Torgu. * Mr. Harker: Evangeline's father, a wealthy Texan oil magnate. * James O'Malley: while absent from the novel's plot, O'Malley is the creator of the report which basically is the novel, as well as the author of certain parts of it. He's Evangeline's former boss and is mentioned to have had a short-lived affair with her. The prologue indicates that the report also serves as a suicide note for him, while the epilogue implies that he's been visited by Evangeline. Film adaptation A film adaptation was announced in 2007, with Hilary Swank attached to the project. Mark Wheaton penned the first draft of the adaptation before the Writers Guild of America strike, as well as before the global economic crisis.John Carpenter Signs on to Direct Vamp Tale Fangland. Retrieved June 5, 2010. Sriram Das and Jason Blum produced the film for Blumhouse Prods.John Carpenter To Direct 'Fangland'. Retrieved June 5, 2010. However, Swank is not involvedHilary Swank Says No to Fangland. It was recently announced that Wes Craven has been hired to direct the adaptation, replacing Carpenter. References External links * Fangland.net * * Category:2007 novels Category:Epistolary novels Category:American vampire novels Category:Vampires in written fiction Category:American horror novels Category:21st-century American novels